I am sure that for Indians born before the 80s, the Kargil War entered their collective consciousness for various reasons. First, it was the first televised war. Second, the Pakistani infiltration across the Line of Control, coming very soon after the well-intended and much-publicised Lahore Bus Yatra of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, took everyone by surprise. Third, the scenes of coffins of our jawans and officers coming back after our initial attempts to push back the infiltrators failed badly plunged the country into monumental grief. Fourth, the sense of grief soon turned into pride when our forces captured the high peaks in the mountains one by one and pushed back the Pakistanis. Finally, the entire nation was swept by a wave of collective patriotism when the war ended with a resounding victory for India.
Since then, popular culture has seen many films and documentaries like LOC: Kargil, Lakshya, and, recently, Shershah, which have helped tell stories of immense valour and sacrifice to later generations. Operation Safed Sagar (OSS), a new web series on Netflix, is another attempt to tell an aspect of the Kargil War that has not been discussed in popular culture before. Earlier stories about the Kargil War focused on the army, the artillery division, and their exploits. However, the Indian Air Force played a key role during the war, securing initial breakthroughs that enabled the ground forces to advance and recapture territory. This operation by the Air Force during the war was called Operation Safed Sagar, and by its very name it indicates the nature of the operation above snow-clad mountains. Operation Safed Sagar is indeed an Untold Story of the Kargil War. It is indeed surprising that it took so long to tell this story.
As a web series, OSS is very well made. Though the operation involved multiple air squadrons, the series centres on the accomplishments of the Golden Arrows alone. In terms of screenplay, the series alternates between the politics between India and Pakistan at that time and the exploits of the Golden Arrows squadron. Frankly, I thought the political side of the series was very well made. Having followed the story very closely back then, I could relate to the events. As a real-life story, casting is crucial, and the casting of characters like Pervaiz Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif is quite apt.
The other part, related to the forces, is more predictable and follows the established template for stories about the Armed forces. The interplay of rivalry and camaraderie among officers, the conflict between love for the country and for dear ones, and the relationship dynamics between superiors and their teams are all things we have seen in many movies and series before, and OSS sticks to the same script. In fact, some of the sequences involving an officer and his love interest end up being distractions not just for the officer in the film but also for us as viewers.
What is new or better is the quality of production, thanks to new technology in the VFX/SFX space. The scenes involving aircraft in missions and sorties, though shot with green mats, are quite believable. Overall, the series is very high in production quality. Also, the writing. The writing team has done well to keep even technical stuff simple and appealing to the lowest denominator among viewers. It has also used creative licence to optimal effect, mixing the right amount of fact and fiction. The entire creative team, comprising the Director Oni Sen, the writers, and the creative producers, deserves kudos for keeping the proceedings real, sans jingoism.
The series has an ensemble of talented actors. Jimmy Shergill, Siddharth, Adi Hussain, Vinay Pathak, and Aanjjan Srivastav have all done a great job of staying true to their characters. But as I said earlier, Manu Rishi as Musharraf takes the cake. So does Srivastav as Vajpayee. The female stars, like Dia Mirza, don’t get much screen time.
Apart from the valour and exploits of the Golden Arrows in the air, the web series thoroughly exposes the conspiracy and machinations of the Pakistani state, which kept telling the world that what happened in Kargil was intrusions by the Kashmiri Mujahideens. It didn’t take long for the Indian side to expose the lies. But it did take a lot of lives of our armed forces in the bargain. Series like Operation Safed Sagar help remind Gen Z, Alpha, and future generations that there is much more to the word “Azaadi” than that.
My Flash Verdict: Operation Safed Sagar is a Must-watch in my opinion.
AnandKumarRSonFilms 
Well covered, as always, Anand. Didn’t know there was an Air Force angle in this war. Warrants a watch over!
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